The process of transferring laundry from a washing machine to a dryer is frequently unwieldy and cumbersome. In particular, after a washing cycle is complete, wet clothing in a washing machine is often tangled together (typically caused by washing machine spin cycle) leaving a user with a scrambled muddle of clothing that is difficult to handle. When a user aims to transfer wet clothing out of the washing machine and into a dryer, a user typically attempts to grab an entire mound of clothing from the washing machine, hoping to capture every last article. Unfortunately, while most of a load may be successfully transferred into the dryer in a single attempt, a user often finds some pieces of clothing on the floor. This course of events generally requires a user to pick up clothes from the floor, inspect them to determine whether the clothes are sullied and then either place them into the dryer with the clothes that were successfully transferred or re-wash the clothes if they became dirty from making contact with the floor during an unsuccessful transfer to the dryer.
The prior art discloses mechanisms used in connection with the transfer of laundry. However, most are generally inapplicable to laundry operations that utilize a separate washing machine and a separate dryer machine. The prior art also focuses predominantly on commercial laundry transfer operations and mechanisms that are inapplicable to and inappropriate for use with household washing machines and drying machines.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,186 covers a commercial shuttle hopper system for loading and unloading commercial washing machines. The system comprises a bucket to receive laundry and includes lift and tilt assemblies to dump the buckets and discharge the laundry into a washer or dryer.
Chinese Patent 202967440 covers a commercial linen conveyor device having shuttle wheels and a drive mechanism that are placed on a support frame with a conveyor belt. The device allows mechanical automatic transfer of linen between a washing machine and the dryer, and eliminates the need for manual transfer.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,404,303 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,978,556 both teach combination washing machines and dryers that allow clothing to drop from a washing machine through a hole positioned beneath the washing machine into a dryer. After the washing machine finishes the cycle, the laundry is automatically transferred by falling to the dryer.
Accordingly, despite the respective benefits of the foregoing prior art systems, there remains a need for a laundry transfer apparatus that eases the task of laundering clothing in connection with household laundry machines.